Get that. I guess teams need to earn them in state cups; non-showcase things, if that is possible. There has to be a better way for teams that rely on GSP for tournament placement to continue to be placed appropriately.

I know there are some teams that participate in 10+ tournaments (and league play) through out the season to continue to get GS points and some that only participate in 5/6. And, they finish as semi finalists or above to continue to earn GS points to allow them to get into good tourney. And some just want to get their teams in everything to use this as some sort of ranking system when reaching out to college coaches.

To find other options re this so that the kids are allowed to be showcased (and not worry about outcome) and the clubs still have opportunity of getting into various tournaments which rely on GSP would be ideal.

8:03 future tournaments look at the results for placement showcase or not. So results are important for the team to be placed in the flight for as you said for the coaches to see how the players react in a competitive environment.What in the world does a coach see when a player that normally plays 20 minutes plays against another player that normally sees only 20 minutes?

To me the kids play and the coaches watch - the better team that day wins simple no excuses.

8:43 two teams play and one wins for this board it matters since we can't talk about the kids and everybody knows a showcase is about the players.

12:28 I agree to a degree but saw first hand your placement means nothing my kid had 12 D1 schools and another 18 D2 and D3 schools watching them play this fall. It's not taboo to be on a good team that wins games and also plays a bunch of games since when has this become a bad thing? So her team gets GS points and 30 schools watching them why should a parent feel bad about that? Because they got 10k in GSP?

3:32. I like youth soccer rankings a lot more, I posted the ECNL spreads before lets see how it does with just showcase games played. How about getting their kids seen as much as possible? The only people calling them chasers are the ones wishing their kids played as many games. PS in order to get those points you have to be good and win more times than not.

There are some clubs that convenience their parents that they have to do this tourney to get points (sometimes it's not a challenging tourney) and this one and this one. My kid had been on one of those.

If you have 12 DI coaches looking at your kid, ask them. They don't care about the points. The points are just to get into tourneys. It's a money grab.

And, my kid, committed (top DI school; as a soph), plays ECNL so points don't matter. Speaking from my experience (and not saying it works for everyone). We left a very good premier team that, in my opinion as I paid the bill, chased GSP.

11:30 and this my friend is the disconnect. First congrats to your kid. How about the kids on that very good premier team? How do they commit? Just go to ID camps? How about all the kids on premier teams go to ECNL teams, wait the numbers can't support that. Should they play on a premier team that doesn't play as much less opportunity to be seen and of course they don't have GS points? or should they play on a premier team that plays at WAGS, Bethesda, CASL, Disney, Jefferson, Delco and maybe an EDP event or 2 that would be 8 opportunities for the players to be seen by their school's of choice. Now if this premier team was good they would place and win lots of GS points that's just the nature of the beast so tell me again how playing these 6 events are a bad thing plus the 2 lower level events to get some D2/D3 schools in the mix? How is this a bad thing? Don't forget they can't go to the ECNL events. Open your eyes what worked for your kid doesn't work for every kid and every kid is important even on those teams you call chasers.

So play Bethesda, CASL, Disne, Jefferson & Delco and you are a point chaser if the team does well and wins, wow.

PS. If I ask these D1 coaches about money grabs do you think they will say their id clinics and camps are also? Multiple clinics fora few spots at over $100 per kid and playing tons of games is now also a money grab.

Let me see my kid plays 30 games and trains twice a week for less money and is on a roster of less than 18vsmy kid playing 15 games and trains twice a week and is part of a roster in excess of 18 and doesn't get the minutes your kid did - which is the money grab?

12:23 - my position as stated above is to find a system that does not put the emphasis on winning in showcase tourneys. That's all. If your coach puts the emphasis on winning, he/she (coach) may not play all the kids; he/she may not experiment with putting kids in different positions to show they can do those as well (but maybe not as good as their familiar position), he/she may not encourage creativity.

There has to be a better way to get into good tournament brackets without relying on GSP re showcases and allow the coaches to showcase all the kids.

How does US Ranking work with tourneys and brackets for non-ECNL teams? Maybe that is the way to go. Certainly a gray area that needs exploring.

@12:23 - do they play league games too in addition to the 6 tourneys you named? So, don't they get points for those? Do they play state cups? Plenty of points in those.

Just showing that there are other ways of getting GSpoints and allowing kids to be showcased by not worrying about wins/losses. And, then maybe equitable playing time would work since the outcome doesn't matter.

3:47 This is where we are different - I expect my daughter's coach to coach the team to win regardless of who's on the field, if he/she didn't then i would have a problem and that would be a place I wouldn't want my kid to play. A coach - plays the game the win the player's execute the plays and the good (deep) team win more times than not this is not a bad thing. One person's creativity is another person's ball hog, depends on who you ask. The players need to play their position and role on the field regardless of event league/showcase, not seeing your point. Your assumption is that teams that win don't play all their players and chase points because more times than not they place and that's where my beef is. But i do agree with your point of playing with a short bench at a showcase.

The MatchFit and PDA North kicked off the NorthEast NPL last night.

MatchFit has a score 35.20 and they beat PDA 4-1 who doesn't have a score yet. Let's see what score PDA gets for this. I would expect 32.20 and their next game against CFC Delco who has a 36.49 score will either increase or decrease their score which will also either increase or decrease matchFit's score. So If PDA beats CFC Delco their score will jump big time which might decrease or increase matchFit's score

I think we all agree ECNL gets the exposure. So for teams not in ECNL the major tournaments are where the top of the roster is showcasing the EDP events and smaller show cases are where the other players play. But you tell them not to do that and they should keep their top of the roster players out of the line up at majors event remember that's their ECNL you only get to Regionals/nationals if you win states and no college coaches watch states/league games or maybe just local schools.

No need to ask because i don't think anyone takes GSP seriously besides calling them what they are a spin on the game and a subplot.

4:09 - I am not calling those who play to win chasers. I am saying there are chasers. Completely different. Some who will go to every event just to get points. And, I agree with winning if you are playing everybody in a showcase. Of course, do it. But, some teams don't have a deep bench. And, may not play all the kids to showcase them just to get the win, just to get the points. And, the NPL games you referenced ARE league games. These are points that matter in the final outcome and determines potential Nat'l championship play.

A good team deep team wins most times than not so they get points. All top leagues ECNL, National league, ERL, EDP, CCL and some NPLs get points. All top tournaments get points unless they ask to not be included or don't provide results. So in a nut shell if you are good and you win you get points you don't chase you are rewarded by events that give points for being good.

The NPL games will have an impact on youth Soccer Rankings score that will impact tournament placement and NPL Final advancement.

All about balanceTell your daughter: "listen honey, I know your teammates playing this weekend won't be that good and you'll lose games but remember they need to be seen by college coaches too. You may only play 10 mn to allow them time so please be patient"Those 16 D1 coaches watching and begging for you will understand. :)

Really? balance you say. News flash those 16 D1 schools are coming to watch the kids that contacted them and the kids should have told their coach who they invited so the coach knows who to play. Is it fair for those players to play against the bottom of the roster?

Don't forget we are talking about teams that have a huge drop off sometimes in talent (not all but most)

I have to chime in here! My daughter plays for a top academy and her coach sent out an email that stated all players will get equal time at showcases. It absolutely was the case. But when we played a non-showcase game it was obvious the better kids stayed in the game much longer!

Players must learn to COMPETE. There should be a clear winner - and a loser - of each game. League play, tournament play - players show their grace under pressure - when the score counts - like in life.

10:52 The ECNL asked to keep their teams together so reserves can play reserves for them to look better than going up against the best NoECNL players which would test them more and showcase them moreBecause the Non-ECNL team players would be jacked up to play an ECNL team and since they be using this as a showcase for the players that have a chance to play D1 College Soccer who are also jacked up, the ECNL teams would lose a bunch of games hence the Showcase argument and GS hate in my opinion.

The points will be added at some points for 2016 CASL - My guess would be ECNL and Elite flights only

1:38 - seems like you don't like ECNL. Good players in all leagues. When you have over 100 coaches coming to your games at the ECNL games in CASL, I guess some of the players must be playing good soccer for the coaches to want to watch. Doubt it had anything to do with playing reserves and just playing good soccer.

12:40 - 1:38 here very much the opposite. I like the ECNL very much. But if you read back a few posts maybe you or maybe someone else said that ECNL clubs use these events for the players that don't play much,which I don't buy because it's the bottom of the roster player that rotate not dressing anyway but I played along. My point was CASL never had ECNL flights only prior to this year. So one can come to a conclusion that they want to keep other players away from the college coaches that are coming to see their players. No hate in my post just calling it like i see it. Wow every game that had ECNL teams in it had over 100 coaches didn't know there were that many at CASL, you really want me to believe that? Maybe your kid's team but your kid's team represents their club not the ECNL or maybe you want me to believe that FC Bucks ECNL had over 100 coaches?

A good team with a good club brand will bring out the coaches my friend no one is debating that - but if you say reserves play then they must be playing reserves if that's the ECNL model and the reason they are in the same flight with no NON-ECNL teams.

I think some of the best teams in the region are ECNL teams no doubt, but there are some others that are not ECNL. But i don't want to debate that been there done that.

My point was ECNL reserves would have been better off playing against teams that would be jacked to play an ECNL team than another team's reserves (previous posts) but then you have the hate posts vs non-ECNL teams as chasers and they always play to win because they beat reserves.

1:38 here again - I think Albert might be the team on the Island.They tied MF earlier in the season (yes it was a showcase) curios to see how WC did vs MF in a league game. Not sure about the SUSA teams and NY Surf did play an EM team (but it looks like not the ECNL team - this team played in CT and got smoked by rec teams - per GS account), so I'm not sure how to look at that 2-1 scoreline.

7:59 this age group will look very different this year as the top 2001s disappear from their teams and join the top 2002s in their own league leaving their current 2001 teams looking like a shell sure they have NPL and B teams to pull players but they will drop below the teams that are still together with a full year under their belt.

Smoked my friend - the scoreline is 3-0 Ls to rec teams not ECNL or top non-ECNL teams. I don't care that they didn't show the score is public and it's 3-0 in record book. I know only ECNL games matter to them.

Yes, over the course of three games, we had over 135 D1 coaches watching our girls play, including 2 head coaches who have won national championships in the last couple years. We are not a top team, at least in terms of wins and losses. But that's not what's important to these coaches. It's all about individual talent and every ECNL team has plenty of it. And while there may be plenty of individual talent on Non ECNL teams, they will have to work much harder to get that kind of exposure.

ECNL and college. Here is a quick synopsis. We do play on a top team, non-ecnl. And have for years as guest player and on club team. We are typically the team playing against the ecnl teams. And we have won the majority of the time. I would rather play on the team that wins, that is how I see it. And if the college coaches are watching ecnl and my daughter is playing against them and playing well and winning. That is the bottom line. We have beaten over last 2.5 years ecnl teams = FC Bucks, PDA Storm, Albertson, PF we tied, and Bethesda we beat. Their is two losses against ecnl, but without being a real ahole I will leave it at that. So if 135 coaches are watching my daughter play against ecnl and win. That is where i want to be.

So this is a few days late, but was at a PA Classic event last weekend and was able to witness both PDA's NPL and Penn Fusions NPL U16 squads. I was amazed at the difference in style of play considering that both these squads are coached by ECNL coaches. PDA's NPL worked out of the back and played soccer regardless of the score and really never lost their shape. Saw two of their games last weekend and its a credit to both coach and players how they played even in defeat.As for Fusion's NPL, lets just say physicality is their best asset. Found themselves behind in one game and just kept fouling and eating up time. Almost never connected more than three passes, although they were good at fielding punts from their keeper.Strange to see styles so different considering that both of their top squads play very similar style and are very good teams.

Well here's the issue. Penn Fusion loses a lot of their bubble kids to local teams' A teams. These players don't want to play with the B team label. DA is bigger and broader and will always field strong B teams. Penn Fusion is stuck with kids the next tier down who really don't even aspire to the A team.

Okay your 135 trumps the 12 - are you happy now? But did the other ECNL teams have 135? Let's see 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999/98 age groups - 3 ECNL flights of 8 teams approx 96 ECNL teams - so are you telling me they all got over 100? If it's just your kid's team great job that's trumps the 12 by far your kid is in a good place good luck. SO I'm guessing of the 135 all the kids on the team were told to contact at least one of the coaches right? Come on I know you all talk.

Serioulsy, good for the team but so what - I would much rather talk results black and white or like 1:06 did compare some teams rather than just saying we are all wasting our time it's all about the Showcase - yeah we know that.

How did they compare to Classics and Rage's style of play? Did these two play better than either PDA or Fusion? So you liked the way PDA played, but it looks like they were able to play up to midfield and then no creativity, right? That would explain the lack of goals or were they just unlucky?

PDA's 2nd and 3rd team were not at Classics.36.50 PLAYERS DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY SOUTH NPL (NJ) 35.47 PLAYERS DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY SHORE FUSION (NJ)

So of the 4 teams that you saw (or maybe 3 ), the team with the worst results played the best? Looked to be an even flight with teams of appropriate skillsets and speed of play, so I can see that 1 goal Ls kind of prove that. If they were much better the scoreline would reflect or if they weren't as good the swcoreline will reflect.

1:29 - just happened upon this and this age group accidently. A lot of interesting posts. Anyway, ECNL older age group (as you asked about others) had over 100 at just one game. Hope others had as much success.Wishing much success to the various kids in their various leagues. They are the ones doing the work.

Since the ECNL is all about the Showcase and don't care about results - I will list Previews going into the winter break (Florida events will changes some of these) using Youth Soccer Rankings USA starting with North East Girls NPL

1:57 Not dissing Penn Fusion as a club, just the style of play of the one team I was watching. I have seen their ECNL team play and its a totally different style and they and their 02 team is very good. Thought the PA Classics team had no idea of what they wanted to do. And while the Rage team was the best possession team there, switching the field and making runs, they missed scoring opportunities constantly.

2:38 - ECNL cares about it's league play. And, some clubs (can't say all) will use a showcase as a showcase; unless it's league play as well such as Sanford/FL, PDA, Phoenix (previously San Diego), etc. So, these are showcases that count toward national standings than a WAGS, Bethesda, CASL, Jeff Cup and the like.

3:46 I'm confused, if they count towards the National Rankings why label them as a showcase? Note: these events have nothing to do with who goes to playoffs or who wins best club (based on the Finals). So explain to me why these Rankings, mean something and WAGS, Bethesda and CASL don't? Because they also mean something towards national Rankings. Oh I got it the ECNL showcases are for the top of the roster and since the bottom of the roster plays at CASL, WAGS and Bethesda we don't want those results counting because the A list players are not playing. GOT IT!

About the USA rankings; are these the InSincSoccer USA rankings or true USA rankings? Pulled up the USA soccer rankings website; my kid's team (a top ECNL team) not even listed.

And, InSincSoccer/USA rankings website of her friend's older ECNL team at a local Club (which is a top ECNL team, too) appears to have their CASL results, but doesn't even have their national cup championship games played and won last June, 2016. This team, also not listed in USA soccer rankings website.

4:04 - Not sure why ECNL calls them showcases. Maybe so coaches will know it's a national league event and come to watch.

Club coaches may play teams differently at these ECNL showcase events. In our Club, everyone plays. Now, maybe some don't play as much as others, but everyone gets good playing time.

If you pull up the ECNL website, and go to one a member's age group page, pick a random one or pick U16. None of the CASL, Bethesda, WAGS games are listed; if that team went and participated.

League games only and upcoming FL games are league games and are listed; as are Phoenix games which are scheduled and listed. And, ECNL championships/qualifiers are based on all of these league games (including those at the ECNL showcase events).

4:17 below are your ECNL Region 1 teams from theUSA soccer rankings website. PS. InSinc stinks they have dupes all over the place and compares last year's U14 teams vs U15 teams same as GotSocccer. US Soccer Rankings only lists teams that have played X amount of games this year (after 8/1/2016) because of BYC. So I will argue very accurate.

As teams play more games and their score adjusts it also adjusts all the teams they played. In other wordsif FC Boston goes up from a 34 it will adjust every team they played also. very Accurate,it doesn't matter how many games you play or who you play.

I must not be doing something correctly. I tried to view U16 PDA (Players Development Academy) - put this info in the USA Rankings home page and nothing current appeared. Maybe not enough games played for it to be included, yet.

@4:04 - not sure what you mean. The ECNL showcase games do mean something as far as finals. There are conference and out of conference games and those final tallies are all used for national/finals. The out of conference box scores can knock teams out of contention (as goal differential and the like count, too).

5:32 & 5:53 correct there is a section "If your team is missing you can view unranked teams here." Click on the here and you go to the below page

http://youthsoccerrankings.us/?showUnranked=Y

I view this site more than gotsoccer for results and also like to view the teams the girls are playing.

5:58 Not picking on FC Virginia just using them - if you see the below link they have 11 games that count towards the playoffs but 14 are listed. The ECNL makes every team do 3 showcase events that are included in the log but are not counted towards qualification. Sorry, i couldn't find what you ere saying in the rules page.

I like to follow ECNL, National League and all Region1 leagues NPL, ERL, CCL, NEP and EDP

Txs. I'll see if I can find something to support the ECNL standings, thing.

I know my older daughter's team, last season, knocked out a team that was above them in the conference standings (by a game or a point) because of their out of conference/showcase event play; more wins.

Okay just pulled up U16 FC Virginia ECNL standings. They are noting 13 conference games played but are showing 16 games because three of those games were played out of conference (11/11-13) at a national ECNL showcase event in Phoenix. All of the games count or would not be listed. This is a confusing new system. Not really a fan.

Last year's system had the conference games listed and in another tab had the national event standings listed. All the games counted, but they were separated in accordance with their event. ECNL event/league games all count toward nationals/finals.

Yes, the conference tab gave the division or conference results and standings and then the other national events gave the overall standings including all the ECNL events such as league plus showcase.

There would be a list of teams and a bold line to show which teams were in the Champions (top 25); then a list of teams and another bold line to show the North American Cup (next 15 or 20) and then a bold line to show the Showcase Event (next 15 or 20) and then a final bold line to show which teams beneath it didn't qualify for any nationals/finals.

I think the red link is the "tab" substitute in the standings for some teams are doing exactly what I described above.

Not Saying your wrong - I just went by the below Rules. ECNL Showcase events are just that Showcase events for the top of the roster players. The CASL, Bethesda and Jefferson Cups of the world are for the other ECNL players, I would expect the Non-ECNL teams to treat these games like the ECNL teams treat their ECNL showcase events. This is why CASL kept ECNL teams together this year curious to see if Jefferson Cup does the same thing in the Spring to shield the bottom of the roster players. I'm just saying this is how it looks, not how it is.

Rules3.16Standings. The standings in each age ECNL Conferenceshall be determined at the end of the ECNL Regular Season (the “Regular Season Standings”). The Regular Season Conference Standings shall determine qualification and seeding forthe ECNL National Playoffsas provided in the attached

Exhibit C.Northeast ConferenceStructure: 14Clubs, 1 TableAutomatic ECNL Champions League Qualifiers: 5ØTop five(5)teams (based onpoints (PPG) fromconference games only) qualifyØThe next two(2) teams with the highest PPG in the conference based on conference games only and regardless of division, will be in contention for wildcards into the ECNL Champions League.

4.5Overall Club Champion. At the end of the ECNL National Finals, an overall ECNL National Club Champion will be determined based upon the Final Standingsas provided in Exhibit B. Each ECNL Club will earn points towards the ECNL National Club Championship based upon the final position of each ECNL Team in the ECNL Club at the U14, U15, U16, U17, and U18/U19age groups in the Final Standings of the age group. Points will be awarded in each age group according to Exhibit Bhereto. The ECNL Club with the most total points from its ECNL Teams, as determined pursuant to this Rule 4.5, shall be crowned the ECNL National Club Champion. Each ECNL Club will be ranked based upon the Final Standings in each age group (the “ECNL Club Rankings”).

Huh. Interesting. Appreciate the info. I guess we'll find out in June or at the upcoming Sanford showcase for those attending. That is not how ECNL event showcases were handled previously. But, everything is in flux.

Just throwing out there that if the ECNL out-of-conference showcase events don't count toward anything, why the 3 minimum requirement? Why not 1 or 2, tops? And, then get the kids in other showcase events where some have opted out so everyone can be showcased.

These are interesting points. I see another change in ECNL conference games. Seems that they are playing 1 game only against conference teams. This is due to the expanded conferences, I assume. Previously, it was two; a home and an away.

Chiming in - Regular season standings discussed in the Rules, I believe, does include the out of conference play during ECNL showcases. These occur during regular season play. Any ECNL coaches on this blog to give any insight?

12:40 The standings in each age ECNL Conference shall be determined at the end of the ECNL Regular Season. Teams with the highest PPG in the conference based on conference games only. It's pretty straight forward.

Goes back to my point. The ECNL showcase events are used for the top of the roster stars no problem with that. So why would anyone expect a Non-ECNL team to not showcase their top of the roster stars at CASL, Jefferson and other majors? Why because the ECNL use these events for the bottom of the roster players? So when the NON-ECNL team wins they are called GSP chasers and playing to win - How about they are just flat out better than the non-ecnl stars and are not chasers and play by the same rules? I believe this is why CASL went with ECNL only flights so bottom of the roster players play bottom of the roster players. The problem with my statement is that bottom of the roster players are still being rotated and not dressing for these events.

I'm okay with 3 events - this is why you pick an ECNL team for the exposure you will get unfortunately for some that will be very expensive,not for all.

Don't forget about the 1 game - this age group doesn't do fall league games anymore.

3:20 here and the comeback will be to my post we still got 100 D1 schools to watch our bottom of the roster players. My comment is great but did any bottom of the roster players (little playing time) sit out any of the 3 games since you can only dress 18 and most ECNL teams carry 20+

3:20 - The points from the national events DO count toward entries in Championship play as below explained.

U15-U17 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATION ODDS The ECNL Champions League will have 28Automatic Qualifiers based solely on conference games as outlined above. After the Automatic Qualifiers are determined, an additional 15 teams will be placed into a wildcard pool based on their conference points and conference standings as outlined above. Once in the wildcard pool, these 15 teams will be ranked based on points-per-game from all games played –including conference games AND NATIONAL EVENT GAMES. The top four will qualify for ECNL Champions League play.

Thank you for clarifying. And, yes, still good to draw over 100 coaches at any one game whether it is top, middle and/or bottom of roster participating. Clearly there is high interest in those players.

Unfortunately 5:09, those coaches are really only looking at players 1-6 at the top of the roster. But at least those parents on each team are getting their moneys worth. ECNL is absolutely the best place to be for those top players and they will get offered some awesome opportunities. As far as player number seven on down, not so much. PDA is probably the exception here, they are a little deeper and schools know it.

4:56 your post is misleading. The national events ONLY count in ranking the 15 team wildcards AFTER they use confernce games ONLY to determine the 15 teams. So once again the National Events or Showcase events mean nothing when it comes to qualifying. They are used the same way other events use Non-ECNL events/games to rank teams.

U15-U17 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

The ECNL Champions League will have 28 Automatic Qualifiers based solely on conference games as outlined below.

After the Automatic Qualifiers are determined, an additional 15 teams will be placedinto a wildcard pool based on their conference points and conference standings as outlined below. Once in the wildcard pool, these 15 teams will be ranked based on PPG from all games played– including conference games and national event games

Automatic Berths and Wildcard Consideration for the ECNL Champions Leagueis provided to each conference as follows:based on points (PPG) from conference games only

It's the same argument to try and justify. Bottom line the coach will play the players he/she trusts the most. Some posters feel like ranking these kids so I play along.

The reality of it is you have 6 players that don't dress per game, I don't for one second buy that 20 players rotate not dressing and I can be wrong it just doesn't make sense and I'm talking available to play. You can tell me you had 100 coaches watching your games and that's cool but they didn't stay for the entire game and they only watched the players playing while they were there. If your kid is dressed and in the game great (better players stay in the game the entire time so they have nothing to worry about and their parents are defending the team) if not better luck next time of I hope they do really well to stand out becasue these coaches are looking for standouts no? At this age every player that plays for a well coached team knows how to play their position.

Meant to clarify, I am considering the cups, etc. as tourneys too as their are multiple games played within the event. Now, the league games are different because there are many more games over a period of time within a league event/tourney. But, the team has to play all of those, as well. THAT is a heck of a lot of soccer for kids.

HS soccer approx 20 games in 2.5 months.Club Soccer 3 Nov/Dec tournaments equals 9 games.4 State Cup games maybe 8 if you do both US Club and NCS (this is the max)League games 7 for normal leagues 14 for ECNL teams.throw in a few more tournaments another 3 with 9 games.

So we have33 games for Non-ECNL teams29 games for ECNL teams

Then add on the 20 HS games Regionals and nationals for Non-ECNLsand Playoffs and nationals for ECNl teams

Not much of a difference in total games, so i agree a ton of soccer but no more that what they played at the younger ages.

You have State, EDP and US Club cups for non-ECNL (this includes USYS and NPL).

You have a slew of tourneys not just the top around here (WAGS, Bethesda, CASL, Disney, Jeff Cup, PDA (spring and mem weekend, if you get in), Delco, Stars, Manhattan, News, Classics, various VA tourneys, Ohio. For tourneys that are not showcase brackets, should figure in 3-5 games (playoffs and finals).

Then, you have a bunch of leagues and you can be in several (ECNL, EDP, NPL, Nat'l, Regional, NY, PAGS, NJ, etc.)

You are on the low end as far as tallies re the amount of games being played for some teams. And, high school as you noted.

AlsoThey were includedTeams in National league are also in ERL (14 games or 4 tournaments)They can't do CASL and Jefferson because of conflicts.

Teams in ERL play 7 games and if they do EDP that's 7 moreTeams in PAGs play 3 games and probably also play EDP for 7 more games.State Cup is 4, for the champs it's another 4 at regionals and if they win that and 4 at nationals

Using Youth soccer Rankings below are your current top 20 (note there are teams that will jump right in once they play the minimum games required).These counts include State Cup, ECNL, National League, NPL and Tournaments.

There are some including other age groups that have already played over 45 games and more to come. This is just the items recorded in GS not including items that aren't reported to them. And, some may be in the top tier and some are not.

Let's add 9 games for the 3 ECNL showcases each team does and 22 regular season games from last season.This does not include Post- Season and Finals,right on par with non-ECNL teams10 + 31 = 41 BETHESDA SC ECNL UNION 017 + 31 = 38 MCLEAN ECNL

The ECNL says you cant be both ECNl and GDA unless you had 3 teams in champions league. That leaves most teams out except those superclubs they have already named as keeping their ECNL teams. So expect more "mergers" like the ones in NorCAl and Florida where one "club" arm keeps the ECNL designation and the other the GDA. Expect thats the main reason CFC and PF are looking to merge. CFC "branch" of the mother club keeps ECNL and PF "branch" keeps GDA. A flavor for everyone.

12;17 @ 4:54 - how is my post misleading? Like yourself, I took the verbiage directly from the rules.

The out of conference events in ECNL are used to determine wildcard places (like other sports use to determine wildcard spots if they have them i.e., NFL,...wildcard spots [overall record as conference/div champs are based on conference/div wins] Remember the NY Giants/Superbowl champs from their wildcard spot (overall NFL record).

Also, these out of conference games (overall standings) also used to determine North American Cup qualifiers and the other national events at the end of ECNL season.

The bottom line is that the out of conference games matter; unlike what you posted.

BBA, PDA, Stars are top teams at this age group that won't have an impact ouside of the ECNL. EUSA and Oakwood will have a minimum impact as 1 is Us Club and the other USYSA .

I know some of you are expecting teams to change a bunch, I am not. In NJ the PDA ECNL team will lose 10-15 players and add 10-15 from their NPL teams. Cedar Stars might have a huge face lift as their teams are not DA material plenty of opportunities for approx 15 girls - so in NJ you lose maybe 30 girls from this age group.

In PA PennFusion will lose their 10-15 players to GDA and probably replenish with CFC Delco and FC Bucks ECNL players that want to add a GDA club to their resume. PA Classics will add from local clubs not sure there is much they can improve on. But what do i know only time will tell us what happens.

So for this Age Group I think PennFusion becomes the top ECNL teambut outside of them I don't see much of a change.

The 3 NY ECNL clubs all got a GDA team so if there wasn't movement before I don't we will see it now.

looking forward to the Spring season and watching those YSR rankings, so for my kids team (final scores) played within those rankings. So I kind of like them, even the games that their score dropped if they finished then they would have covered the spread. Wow I feel dirty talking point spreads and youth soccer.

Knowing the area, Penn Fusion will probably pick up skilled/talented kids too from some of the surrounding premier USYS clubs. All of it makes for some very interesting next few years. Grab your popcorn.

There are players immediately around Penn Fusion, too. Several high level USYS teams within a few miles. But, some kids/parents may still make the travel from Classics' area because of the product already in place w/PF. Time will tell. Plenty of soccer for everyone.

I don't see existing PF players who reside in the Harrisburg, central PA area changing to Classics. They went to another club for a reason in the first place.From what I hear, the one coach who may have attracted players is no longer there

interesting break down about player movement. Cedar Stars has solid 03-01, I believe. That can make up a DA at our girls age group. But definitely room for a couple of more. Remember girls are playing up, now and recently more than ever. Why? because of age group changing and they can actually do it. Most at U15/16 are grown, taller, stronger. And with HS play you start at 14 yrs old, playing with 17 year olds anyway. PDA is right on, they have plenty of players to look at. PF is interesting because they always seem solid, and if they can put together a stronger team, wow. I do think the PDA U15/16 is weaker than it has been. However due to age thing all teams are new this past fall.

The three best 2001 teams in EPA are Penn Fusion, Continental and FC Bucks and those three are far better than the USYS teams in EPA. LVU, PA Classics, Rage and 1776 are not close to the level, which is a problem for Penn Fusion and PA Classics for a number of reasons. Because of the talent gap between the ECNL and non ECNL teams the GDA clubs will have a difficult time filling in the voids with USYS players, that is if players even leave their USYS teams. The three ECNL clubs already have the best players. It is doubtful that the 2001 ECNL players from Continental and FC Bucks are going to leave their ECNL teams to go to Penn Fusion and PA Classics. Most won't be willing to leave their friends and are simply not going to leave their high school programs, especially when many of the top players on those two teams are loaded with girls that attend private schools. Many of the private school girls are receiving financial aid because of their participation in school soccer. Even the coaching staff at Penn Fusion are worried they won’t be able to retain their own players when being confronted with the elimination of high school soccer.

You are always going to find girls that want to play high-level travel soccer (ECNL or National League), but when it becomes soccer specific without the high school soccer option, the player pool becomes significantly reduced. Certainly having the U16/17 and 18/19 combined age groups will help with stabilizing numbers, but it won’t help with quality when the more competitive GDA clubs will be comprised of players that are on the older side of the spectrum. Then add the basic negatives that have plagued the boy’s DA over the years and it becomes very challenging.

In the end, you won't see much movement with players in EPA from the 2001 to 1999 age groups. In the near future you will see GDA players sticking closer to the areas they live as the program is a year round periodization for development meeting 4 to 6 times at week, making travel for long distance training difficult. The best bet for a developing and stable GDA will be with the players 2003 and younger.

I heard that PF will not be able to have both ECNL and GDA. If they are allowed, then they will merge with Continental. Then the combined club will have boys and girls DA and ECNL. In the Northeast, I think only PDA and Stars are allowed (by ECNL) to have both a GDA and ECNL.

If PF is not allowed both ECNL and GDA, the girls that don't want (or cant make) the GDA will move to Continental or Bucks to stay ECNL. And players could continue to flip flop clubs each year.

Obviously this is a pissing match btwn organizations, so thing can happen/change.

The ECNL has already said no to PF having both ECNL and GDA, so it isn’t a pissing match.

The people at Continental FC and Penn Fusion are hearing it is only a matter of time before there is a women’s pro team back in Philadelphia. There continues to be a great deal of talk around the water cooler at YSC about the addition of a girl’s program. US Soccer held off on awarding an additional DA slot to the Philadelphia area knowing that a partially funded GDA is increasingly becoming a possibility because of a future pro team. Sky Blue is an easy ride for the Lehigh Valley area players, Central PA players will gravitate towards PA Classics as the boys have done since being awarded the DA and if there is a GDA related to a pro team in Philadelphia, so goes the best players in the Philly area. It is possible the PF GDA won’t have much of a future at all. I think the current U12/13 teams are future of the GDA, but by the time they get to the GDA there might be some pretty big changes.

10:32 - Teams will not be moving; players will. Each of those teams you mentioned have several or at least one very strong player. And, there are others too.

Not sure you are aware but kids travel hours to play on PF already. Last year, prior to the NY Flash getting an ECNL emblem, older kids from Buffalo, NY were playing for them as discovery players. And, there are others. It's just the way soccer has evolved.

10:32 - was at a gathering with a bunch of people many of which have kids that play soccer (boys and girls).

Of course, the GDA came up and as a bunch of the kids play ECNL, the topic of high school came up too. Most said their kids would not play high school if they made a GDA team even those attending private schools.

Top players attending The Pennington School, Germantown Academy, Baldwin along with a number of other top prep schools are not leaving those academic schools to play GDA. The academic and social opportunities created at those schools far out weigh GDA. Top players attending those schools are receiving serious financial benefits because they play soccer and they don’t plan on going back to public school. It is very possible some of the rich private school girls at Westtown or the likes might go to GDA because they don’t have an issue paying the $29,500 tuition. Many of the current YMS, FC Bucks and Continental FC girls don’t have the same advantages. It costs $31,000 to go to Pennington, $34,000 to go Germantown Academy and a $36,000 price tag at Baldwin School, but the top girls playing soccer at these high level academic schools are play far far less. No HS prep soccer= no more money for HS prep school.

There is no professional soccer path for GDA and at this stage of the game and national team identification starts again when players are in college. All the areas top 2001 players of GDA quality will be committed by the spring if they aren’t already locked up now. So GDA isn’t needed for college exposure.

Let’s revisit this topic in the spring and we will see who was more accurate in their assessment.

While we are talking about GDA for a second, did anyone hear that there was a 1 day summit held by US soccer in Chicago to talk about all things and hopefully answer questions for any DOC that have both GDA and ECNL at the same club...guess what...there was no one there to answer questions. The boys technical director was there, but no Jill Ellis, no April Heinrich. April was at a keeper/striker showcase, that I guess was more important *cough* or paid more money *cough*.Total mess, no alignment, no accountability...more clubs will follow Matchfit and drop GDA if they already have ECNL.

12:27 - Not true. Yes, and Springside Chestnut Hill, Agnes Irwin, Notre Dame, Lawrenceville, Villa Joe, Villa Marie, Episcopal, The Hill School, Wm. Penn Charter, Shipley, the Friends' schools, etc. are the same. And, are around the same as far as cost (give or take a few $$).

There ARE kids on these teams (and the ones you named) that may opt out of high school ball for GDA. I doubt a school would bounce them for following a dream; in particular if the kid is a great student as well. That isn't how these schools work.

@11:15 - I think a PF GDA would do well with a YSC GDA, if it should happen. The boys have Continental/Delco and Classics with DA's along with Union Academy/YSC as a neighbor. All of these DA's seem to do well and get along just fine. There is a lot of talent, players and coaches, in that area.

Saw this in the article, "Another aspect that Ellis touched on was how the Girls' Development Academy will be a revolutionary step towards de-emphasizing winning and losing. "This is not a league where it is about points and trophies," Ellis said. "This is a development platform, where it's about competing, growing and helping players get better. That base philosophy is going to send messages to coaches and the coaches will embrace it."

• 10,700 Current players in the Development Academy• 1,544 Number of players to receive full scholarships from Academy Clubs

Girls' Development Academy include more training, less total games, more meaningful games, international rules and standards. In other words a Team might have 24 players of which only 18 will dress for a game of which only 14 will play. The clubs will love this. MF and others that have moved away form the GDA might have moved away because of the higher standards and license requirements.

ECNL "GOAL: The goal of the Elite Clubs National League is to change the landscape for elite female soccer players in the United States through innovative, player-centered programming and to enhance the overall experience by creating a better, more enjoyable, and more successful player, coach, and club development model". I will use the same example how is a roster of 24 creating a more enjoyable and successful player when 6 players don't dress?

@12/22 12:27RE: " All the areas top 2001 players of GDA quality will be committed by the spring if they aren’t already locked up now. So GDA isn’t needed for college exposure."My daughter has recently verbally committed...coach is adamant she push for GDA. Most good college programs are shooting for this level of play don't you think? Of course they want future players to receive the best training

7:24 what does that mean? She was given an offer as a Freshman in HS to play College Soccer D1? What did they say - hey come play for us we will give you ??$ if your grades are good enough for you to be admitted? I'm assuming the level of play cannot drop correct since a verbal is not a final offer?

Never had the opportunity for some one to give some hardcore facts.

Don't care about the school - just very curious how the offer was packaged?100%, 75%, 50% or was it a hard $$$

My kid has had two offers so far the first was packaged as a single percentage of all of the offer components: tuition, room and board, books, and cost of attendance. The other offer was packaged as 100% tuition, books, food (because all athletes eat free) but no cost of attendance or housing. One was fatter than the other but that school was in a lesser conference. Hope that helps

Coach fell "in love" with her. She filled out early admissions application.Going down to visit school and meet the team soonNothing concrete yet but looking like 80-90%? Verbal is exactly that though...either one can back out until more concrete steps are taken

9:27 thanks - just picking your brain a little more. Did your child have contact with these schools prior to their interest? If so how was she identified at a game or an id clinic? I'm assuming D1 so the only way they talked was by your kid calling correct? My kid also received an early admission packet after attending an ID clinic just trying to gauge level of interest from this school or if this is normal every day stuff and what to expect next if anything. Once again thanks for sharing.

The only teams not winning were the NY/NJ teams they scored a whopping 4 in 5 games - I know it's a showcase and they wanted to show what they can do in front of those coaches. While the PA teams won all 3 and scored 16 goals in the process I know they played weaker teams.

Sorry but have always had to listen about PDA/MF were NJ and EM was unstoppable. Along comes BYC and bam things are all out of whack FC Bucks was an ongoing joke but yet they outscored all the NY/NJ teams combined as did CFC Delco and PennFusion. With NEFC aka Boston Breakers and FC Stars looking like locks early on some of these big names won't be going to the playoffs (PDA/MF/WC/EM/Albertson). Lots of fun early on. Must admit did not see the PDA struggles (1 out of 4 .250%)

Virginia is just good at all age groups. Penn Fusion at the least very good at U15/16. PDA continues to decline, but at least playing good teams and learning I hope. Just remember ladies and gents. Losing is sometimes good. Do you really think at U16/17/18 on and on that you can win every match? What are you learning if you win all the time 3-0, 2-0, 4-0 so on so forth. Lose once in a while, to a great team, no shame, no shame at all. When you think about it you want to play better teams to get better.

PDA 0-2-3 this season 3 Ls out of 5 with zero Ws. We are talking PDA and we all know this has never happened before at any ECNL age group previously for them. But you sell it the way you want, at least Madrid is winning and how about FC Bucks?

I just don't think teams have actual ratings anymore. 90% of most teams are at least 50% changed. I think the bigger clubs will continue to move players around from within there own club. The clubs with large numbers in the same age group will have an advantage. This upcoming spring season will be telling!

NL Black - FCKC Academy Blues Elite (MO) can clinch a tie forvthe title with a win vs Nationals Union 01 Black (MI) or if the nationals win the door remains wide open for either Florida Elite 2001 (FL) or Fullerton Rangers 01 White (CA-S) toclaimthe title in Vegas. Nationals Union 01 Black has aspotlockedup in next year's National league with a MidWest Regional league Fall title already.

NL Blue - the Michigan Jaguars 01 Green (MI) can clinch a spot at nationals and in next year's national league with a win vs LFSA Select (IL)

NL Red - CUP Gold 01 (OH-S) wins the title and spot at nationals and next year's national league with one win in Vegas.

NL White - the current 1st place team EGA 01 Maroon Omaha (NE) has a spot clinched for next year's national league as the 2nd place Midwest regional league fall team but will likely not win this year's division title. Legends FC 01 Academy (CA-S) with 2 wins in Vegas can clinch the White division.

No agenda pal - those are the Youthsoccer rankings scores with the current team rosters, they are what they are, no excuses made or needed every team played showcase games. Objectivity? No need the data is the data. So is 3:50 and 4:27 the same person, because I'm 12:30 and all I have been posting are youthsoccer ranking scores the same for everyone no favorites and my posts are easy to identify no opinions just the results not selling anything.

8:37 That's 60% looking at a random 5 games I picked. If I was to look at the entire Disney lineup I'm sure it would be higher.

I like their stats and it's the only place the ECNL teams can't cry about not including all their results.

When you say not enough data who are you talking about teams from VA have played 20+ games?

Once again no agenda on my part just data not enough or just enough the data is what it is. Teams are what they are. To me these scores tell me that any team in the top 30 can compete vs each other with either one winning.

Adverbush was not at Disney. It was the fury team. Wildcat director playing gotsoccer games again. Averbush was on the wags applied team list but somehow fury was on the schedule. Same for CASL and now Disney.

2002 Girls are allowed to play up within the same club. It was a mix of players from Averbuch and Fury Teams within the Wildcats Club. Same as the other academies do it. At Raleigh they played in 2002 top flight so that was all 2002 team.

8:26 - but if it gets them in the top flights, what's the issue? This one is on Disney -it's very easy to see when a team is manipulating GS. Just look at their history if you see u15 and u16 flights then you know they are guilty.

This is a reason why I prefer Youth Soccer Rankings USA over gotsoccer. Both teams are the same and GS had nothing to do with either team being F1, however if you look at GS there is a big gap. Tournaments will get smart or they just don't care.

PS. The Averbuch team GS was the right one to use for Disney as this had u14 results that should be used as U16 results. However, Disney should have then noticed that this account is now being used as a U15 account and should have flighted them properly further down regardless of their results at Disney.

Wait we'll see the same type of decisions/mistakes made in a few days by Jefferson.

PSS from my previous post you can see either team would be flighted the same based on their Fall 2016 results as their scores are about the same. However,Disney should have made an example of them for trying to play the system

Why didn't Wildcats DOC just have the Fury U16 team club register for the tournament & have some of the 2002 players from Averbush guest play as needed? That way the Fury would have benefitted from the GS points. Speaking of the latter, how does GS award points to the U15 team that used U16 players if that indeed did happen? & the "all other academies do it" excuse is lame.

9:04 Becasue they took a spot of a true U16 team (no smoke and mirrors) who could have also won the flight. Why not use the true U16 gotsoccer account (Fury)? Oh not as many point so a lower flight huh? Cheating the system but i don't blame them they tried and got over this one is on the selection people at Disney. Not major event ever played a team playing up in their top flights. But it is what it is.

9:36 and that is the problem - they should not be allowed to use the Averbuch GS account for 2002/U15 events now since they have new season results that included U16/2001 guest players. But GS won't catch that unless someone complains to them.

Ps. The other academies don't do it. It's called cheating and that's a sad thing this we are talking about a team with 15 year old players. So sad.